Metachronous multiple primary malignant neoplasms of the stomach and the breast: report of two cases with review of literature.

Multiple primary malignant neoplasm is the occurrence of a second primary malignancy in the same patient within 6 months of the detection of first primary (synchronous), or 6 months or more after primary detection (metachronous). Multiple primary malignant neoplasms are not very frequently encountered in clinical practice. The relative risk for a second primary malignancy increases by 1.111-fold every month from the detection of the first primary malignancy in any individual. We present 2 patients treated for carcinoma of the breast who developed a metachronous primary malignancy in the stomach to highlight the rare occurrence of multiple primary malignant neoplasms. These tumors were histologically dissimilar, with distinct immunohistochemical parameters. The importance lies in carefully identifying the second primary malignancies, not dismissing them as metastases, and treating them accordingly.